Dorothy Patten

 Dorothy Patten was a British driver who mainly competed in rallies, but also raced before and after the war. 

Her origins are rather obscure and “Dorothy” was not her real given name. It is likely that she was originally named Alice Minnie Patten and had come from a working-class background. Both of her parents died before she was ten and she and one of her sisters were sent to St Mark’s Home for Girls, a domestic science school where Minnie trained as a maid. 

A 1939 summons for speeding close to Brooklands in the name of Dorothy Minnie Patten, in her car, seems to prove her identity. 

Alice Minnie Patten was born in 1906 in Flintshire. As a teenager, she worked as a housemaid in a surgeon’s house, but at some point in the 1920s or early 1930s, she seems to have come into some money and moved to the south of England.

She got her start in motorsport very early, in 1933. Her first car seems to have been an Alvis, which she drove in that year’s Alpine Rally, finishing fourteenth in class and 53rd overall. She tried again on the 1934 Alpine but does not seem to have finished. 

Starting from John O’Groats, she tackled her first Monte Carlo Rally in 1935, still with the Alvis. She was 79th overall.

Another of her early cars was a British Salmson, which was the first she used for circuit racing. She was second in the Unlimited Standard Sports Car class for women in the 1936 Brighton Speed Trials in it, narrowly beaten by Kay Petre in a Frazer Nash. The following year, she raced it at the Crystal Palace circuit, finishing third in an Unlimited Sports Car handicap at the United Hospitals and University Motor Club meeting.

She drove the Salmson in the 1936 RAC Rally and the 1937 Monte Carlo Rally. The same, or a similar, car, also finished the 1938 Monte. This car belonged to Rainer Dorndorf. It took her to a 43rd place in the 1937 Monte, from 81 finishers. Some results lists have Dorothy entered as a co-driver to Rainer Dorndorf in a Salmson in the 1938 Monte and crashing out, but this sounds unlikely given her own entry.

She was named as a car entrant for R.E. Dorndorf's special-bodied Darl’mat Peugeot in the 1939 Sydenham Plate. This was a car that Dorothy didn’t race much herself at the time, although she used it in rallies. Her first major result in it was probably an eleventh place in the 1939 Paris-St. Raphael Rally. She was fourth in Class B, for drivers with no previous podium finishes.

Later, she married Rainer Dorndorf, a German based in Ireland, and began styling herself “Baroness von Dorndorf”, although her husband does not appear to have held such a title. As a British national married to a German, she was briefly interned during the war, although she was soon cleared of being any risk and released. By 1942, the pair had divorced and Dorothy was apparently engaged to Captain Anthony Ryan. They never actually married. It was claimed in the Tatler that Rainer Dorndorf had died in a hunting accident in 1938, but this was untrue. In 1947, she did remarry, to David Treherne. 

Unlike many of her contemporaries, Dorothy was able to resume her career after the war. She entered the speed trials held at Elstree Aerodrome in April 1946, taking the Peugeot to a class win. She covered the quarter-mile course in 22.8s.

The following year, she went back to the Brighton Speed Trials, but could only manage 17th in class and sixth-fastest lady. Her only circuit race in this car seems to have been a three-lap contest at Goodwood in 1948, although her finishing position is not recorded.

She died in 1975, aged 68.

Thanks to Adam Ferrington for information.

Ruth Urquhart Dykes

 

Ruth at the 1927 Alvis meeting, on the right and in the car below

Ruth Urquhart-Dykes was a very able racer and speed record setter in the late 1920s, usually at the wheel of an Alvis. She tends to slip under the radar, partly due to her short career and partly because she appeared to be very sporting and uncontroversial.

She was born Pauline Ruth Hegarty in 1894, in the Irish town of Oughterard. She married William (Bill) Urquhart-Dykes in 1921 in Dublin. They later settled in Surrey, England.

She competed between 1924 and 1929, almost always driving an Alvis and often with her husband, Bill. Their cars were variations on a 12/50 model which they kept at home. The second, bought at the start of 1927, was named “William” after its serial number, WM 47, and may have started life as a works car. 

The first big event she appears in is the 1925 Auto Cycle Union London-Gloucester Trial, held just before Christmas. She was recorded as a finisher, alongside another woman, Miss A Dupre. The following June, she was third in her class at the Brooklands high-speed trial. 

After two years of occasional trials competition, she started entering races at Brooklands. At this time, the main organising club at the circuit was not keen on women drivers and only allowed them to run in ladies-only races. Other clubs, however, had allowed mixed competition almost from the start.  In June 1927, she took part in an all-Alvis meeting, winning a scratch race for Alvises “capable of 75mph” and finishing second in a ladies’ scratch race, behind Mrs Maddison Brown. She continued to trial the Alvis too.

Her first international race was the 1928 Coupe Georges Boillot in France, part of Boulogne Motor Week. She was ninth in the Coupe, driving the 12/50. The winner was Ivanowsky in his Alfa Romeo. Her fellow Brit and the only other woman in the competition, Margaret Maconochie, did not finish.

Back at home, she entered the Surbiton Motor Club’s August open race meeting at Brooklands. The Surbiton MC was one of the clubs which encouraged female entries and there was a ladies’ race as part of the weekend’s card, in which Ruth was second, behind Jill Scott. Ruth, Jill and Henrietta Lister then contested the 50 Mile handicap race against the men, with Ruth taking the lead at almost half distance and holding on to win by about a mile. WB Scott was second.

Ruth and Jill renewed their rivalry the following year in May, meeting in the prestigious Double Twelve race and in a two-lap ladies’ handicap at the Gold Vase meeting.

In 1929, she and Bill made their names by setting a new Twelve Hour speed record at Brooklands, driving William. The weather during the run became increasingly wet and treacherous, not letting up into the darkness. Ruth had been worried that she had fallen below the average speed she needed to maintain, but when she handed over to Bill, she had been exceeding the average comfortably, lapping at 87 or 88mph. The existing record was just over 80mph and the Urquhart-Dykes exceeded it with 81.3mph, despite William being considerably less powerful than the previous record holder. That year, Winifred Pink, another racer, wrote a rather waspish piece in The Woman Engineer in which she expressed doubt that women were really capable of handling bigger cars, with the exception of Jill Scott, Ivy Cummings and Ruth.

They were less fortunate in that year’s Double Twelve race and did not finish. Bill and Ruth completed the first twelve hours with few problems and were managing the rain on the second day when a rear spring was found to be broken during a pit stop. Ruth would have carried on, but the mechanics put a stop to that.

Both Bill and Ruth stopped competing shortly afterwards. Bill had decided to concentrate his energies on his growing patent agency, while Ruth also retired as she felt it was unfair to carry on without him. It cannot have helped that they were witnesses to a rather nasty road accident that September, in which a sidecar passenger was killed. Ruth did make one appearance in a Lagonda later that year, but it was in a concours d’elegance.

Ruth was a cheerful and generally non-combative character, but she wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself or other women on occasion. As a member of the Auto Cycle Union, she argued for full female inclusion in the club’s major trials in 1929. She was also not above showing a more frivolous side, talking to the Daily Mirror about her distinctive “egg blue” overalls and helmet, although she stressed that her racing attire was functional. “My overall is only designed for safety, but of course, I try to make it as attractive as possible.”

William was sold in 1934 after “surviving” a road collision, replaced by a Railton Fairmile.

When the war broke out, both Urquhart-Dykes joined up, with Ruth serving as a driver in the FANY.

She died in 1981.

For a more thorough discussion of William by a friend of the Urquhart-Dykes family, Peter Lord’s article can be found here. It was very helpful in writing this biography.

Image copyright Daily Mirror

Irene Schwedler (Charlotte Sadler)

Charlotte Schwedler's pilot's license photo

Irene Schwedler was part of the Brooklands ladies’ racing “set”, and an occasional rally driver. Her later, post-war career was in rallying, and under a new name, Charlotte Sadler.

She was born in Germany in 1906, and was originally named Ilse Charlotte. Racing-related records tend to refer to her as Irene, but she did not use this name personally, going by Charlotte or Carlotta, Lotta for short. It is not clear where "Irene" came from - possibly an administrative error somewhere.

Charlotte was a German national. She had come to live in England in 1923, in order to work as a nanny. She had several different jobs as an adult. At some point, she apparently owned a shop in Luton. Her pilot's license gives her occupation as “private secretary”. Other records have her as a “garage proprietress”.

During her early time in England, Charlotte took up motorcycling and toured the country. Back in Germany, her father and two sisters were also keen adventurers, with a preference for motorcycles. She seems to have been the first racing driver in the family; according to her nephew, she first raced at Brooklands in 1928, practising for a Ladies' race in an Alvis. She did not make the start due to a piston failure. A year later, she lapped Brooklands as a passenger in an MG Midget, before finally getting to compete in earnest herself.

The earliest media mention of her seems to be as a competitor in the Women’s Sport and Automobile Association (WASA)’s Lands End Trial in 1930, driving an MG. In a similar car, she entered a Ladies' race at Brooklands in March. 

She began racing an Alvis Speed 20 at Brooklands at the start of the 1930s, when she was in her mid-twenties. The car was a new model in 1931. A few years later, in 1934, Charlotte’s Alvis was described as belonging to a C.G.H. Dunham, although this may not be the same car. A small article in the Triple-M Register Bulletin from November 2015 states that Gerald Dunham was a personal friend of Charlotte’s, and that she raced more than one Alvis from his own showroom. Both Dunham and Charlotte lived in Luton.

Her first major Brooklands appearance was a Ladies' Handicap in 1931, in which she was third, in a 1645cc Alvis. There were eight entrants in the race, and she was behind Fay Taylour in a Talbot, and Elsie Wisdom in an Invicta.

In June 1932, she took part in the BARC Inter-Club Meeting at Brooklands. She was representing the Women’s Sport and Automobile Association. Her third place in a nine-mile handicap helped the club to second in the Stanley Cup, for the best club team of the day. Her team-mates were Geraldine Hedges and Margaret Allan.

At the same meeting in 1933, her individual performance was better; she won the Lightning Short Handicap, her first major Brooklands victory. The WASA team was second. This time, she was driving the Speed 20 that probably belonged to Gerald Dunham. At the Whit Monday meeting, she was one of the first female drivers to enter a mixed race organised by the BARC at Brooklands, when she drove in the Cobham Senior Short Handicap.

During her racing career, she often drove alongside other female drivers in the team relays and match races which happened at Brooklands. Her best performance in a relay was third, in the 1934 Light Car Club event, driving an MG Magnette alongside Margaret Allan and Doreen Evans. Despite their superior performance, they were denied a Le Mans place in favour of Kay Petre's Singer team, who had exploited a loophole in the rules that the Ladies' Cup, and the Le Mans entry that went with it, was not awarded to anyone finishing in the top three. The Singer crew had found a copy of the MG pit notes, and successfully intercepted their pit signals, allowing them to maintain position behind their rivals, and claim the Le Mans spot. Charlotte, although a capable driver, never seems to have competed internationally.

In 1934, she took part in the Brighton Speed Trials, driving Gerald Dunham’s Alvis. She was second in the Ladies’ class, behind her regular rival, Kay Petre, in her Bugatti.

As well as circuit racing, she occasionally drove in rallies in the UK in the 1930s. In 1935, she entered a Rover Speed Pilot into the RAC Rally, starting at London. She used the same car and start point the following year. For the 1938 RAC, she used a Hillman Minx, and began at Leamington. This year, she is recorded as finishing in 154^th place. She drove the Hillman again in the 1939 RAC Rally, before rallying ceased for World War II.

Her last Brooklands appearance was in 1938, the year before the circuit closed. She drove a Talbot 10 in a one-make Talbot race, during the August Bank Holiday meeting, but she was not among the leaders. Her friend Gerald Dunham also entered.

After the war, she reappeared in the entry list for the 1947 JCC Eastbourne Rally, driving an Alvis, presumably one of her earlier cars.

Some time later, in December 1947, she formally changed her name from Ilse Schwedler to Charlotte Sadler, adopting her erstwhile middle name. This followed her naturalisation as a British citizen in November. She seems to have competed a little in sprints and hillclimbs in 1948, driving an Alvis Speed 20 in the Brighton Speed Trials. This was the start of the second part of her career, as the rally driver, Miss Charlotte Sadler.

After 1950, she was something of a regular on the Tulip Rally. In 1950, she drove a Hillman Minx, with Hazel Dunham and a Mrs. Plummer. Hazel was the daughter of Gerald Dunham, Charlotte’s earlier supporter. They were 37^th overall.

The Sadler/Dunham pairing tackled the Tulip again in 1951, assisted by Mrs. DM Alcock. Driving solo in the Minx, Charlotte also tackled the Scottish Rally. The following year, Charlotte and Hazel in their Rover won the Closed Car Ladies’ Cup in the RAC Rally, as well as finishing 31^st in the Tulip. Another appearance in the Tulip in 1953 seems to have been their last major event together. She retired from motorsport completely in 1959.

Away from the race track, she was quite an experienced pilot, flying from Brooklands and being awarded her license by the Royal Aero Club in 1937.

As a German national, Charlotte was interned during the War, as a “hostile alien”. She was held on the Isle of Man, after her classification was changed to a higher one. This was practice at the time, and does not reflect any personal misdemeanours or beliefs. She was a private person; other than her closeness to the Dunham family, little is common knowledge about her. One of her sisters emigrated to England later, having survived a prison camp. The two women lived together. She did not have children of her own, but was regarded as a family member by the younger Dunhams, joining her nephews on shoots. Late in life, she took up water skiing.

She died in Luton in the late 1970s.

This post was created with help from the TNF Nostalgia Forum, particularly the users "alvista", “Vitesse2” and “ReWind”.

The Belles of Brooklands, Part II

Ruth Urquhart-Dykes in 1927

More of the lady drivers of Brooklands. Jill Scott-Thomas, Barbara Skinner and Irene Schwedler now have their own profiles.

“Mrs K.N. Roe” – raced a Lea-Francis at Brooklands. In 1933, she won a Novice’s Handicap at the Inter-Club Race Meeting in July. During the race, she reached a maximum speed of 85.13mph. Later in the year, she entered the Ladies’ Handicap at the Mountain Championship Meeting, but does not appear to have finished.  She does not appear to have continued racing in 1934. Mrs Roe was possibly a member of the “Avro” Roe family, who were prominent at Brooklands.

Laura B Starkey – drove a Sunbeam, mostly in hillclimbs, in the 1910s. She broke Dorothy Levitt’s long-standing ladies’ record at Shelsley Walsh in 1913. Her car was a Sunbeam 12/16hp. In 1912, she won the Closed section of the Caerphilly hillclimb outright, in the Sunbeam. That year, she used the Sunbeam at Brooklands, in the RAC Associates club meeting. She was second in the Skilful Driving race, and third in the hillclimb. In hillclimbs, she scored first or second places in class in Leicestershire and Hazelwood. Back in Wales, she competed in the Portcawl Speed Trials, held on the beach. She won Class 9.

Olive Stewart-Menzies – one of the earliest female winners at Brooklands. She won one race at the Surbiton Motor Club meeting in 1923, and was second in another, driving the 1913 “Bebe” Peugeot. In 1924, she drove the same car in the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb. In 1925, she raced an Itala at Brooklands, during the Essex Motor Club’s meeting, but did not finish. Her father was a Peugeot enthusiast who owned several pre-war racing Peugeots, hence Olive’s use of the Bebe GP car.

Dorothy Summers – raced a Marendaz Special at Brooklands, between 1931 and 1936. In 1934, she was third in the BARC Novices’ Handicap. That year, she was quite active, competing in the August Bank Holiday Meeting and the Autumn Meeting.  She won the March Short Handicap in 1936, the first such win for a Marendaz car. She competed alongside Aileen Moss, possibly in trials, at some point. Dorothy worked for Donald Marendaz himself, and was his long-term companion as well as a director of his engineering companies.

Fay Taylour - Irish speedway rider, circuit racer and rally driver from the 1930s onwards. She was the winner of some Brooklands races and often finished well in rallies, in the UK and abroad, both as driver and navigator. She was the winner of the Ladies' Prize in the 1933 Brooklands Rally. In 1934, she had her biggest victory, a win in the Leinster Trophy at Skerries, driving an Adler. She continued to race after the Second World War, despite being imprisoned for much of it due to her membership of the British Union of Fascists.

Sheila Tolhurst - raced at Brooklands in the early and mid-1930s. She won a handicap race there in 1932 in a Riley, at the Inter-Club meeting. Her average speed was 81mph. Later, in 1934, she was part of the Singer team for the annual Light Car Club relay, with Kay Petre and Eileen Ellison, driving a Singer Le Mans. They were fifth overall after deliberately sandbagging, in order to secure the Ladies’ award which could not go to any team in the top three. Further details of her motorsport activities have proved elusive. She died in 1981.


Part One

(Image copyright LAT Archive/www.austinharris.co.uk)